Evolve's head coach Vicky Chapman and Hartlepool Sport's Calvin George hand over a cheque to Lewin Tubuna. Pictures courtesy of Ian Horrocks/Rephrase
A super-fit Hartlepool teenager has thanked the huge support he has received since sealing a place in the Teenage CrossFit Games world finals next month.
Local charity The PFC Trust met up with Lewin Tubuna at the Evolve gym, Burn Road, he represents to hand him a £1,000 Gus Robinson Bursary grant to help with the cost of his trip to the United States in August.
Uniting Talent and GRAFT, a CrossFit clothing brand, are also supporting Lewin having secured his place at the Michigan showpiece from August 30 - September 1.
Other local businesses, friends and family have also helped while t-shirts have been created to raise money for Lewin, who is one of only two boys to have qualified from across the UK for the event in his 14-15 age category.
He said: “I am so grateful to The PFC Trust and everyone else for helping because the cost of accommodation, flights, training gear and supplements needed to compete at the finals are expensive.
“It has been so nice of the people to have shown so much faith in me to do well and that will give me an extra push, an extra piece of motivation, if I needed it! People have backed me, and it means a lot.”
Lewin will head to Michigan with his dad Suli, mam Lynsey and ten-year-old sister Mia. His grandparents Jone and Elizabeth, who live in San Francisco, will fly over to support him too.
If that wasn’t enough his coach at Evolve, Vicky Chapman, is also travelling over from Hartlepool along with 15 others from the gym.
Evolve’s head coach Vicky said: “This is the gym’s seventh year and we are unbelievably proud of Lewin because this is a massive milestone for everyone here.
Lewin Tubuna being put through his paces by Evolve head coach Vicky Chapman at the gym. Pictures courtesy of Ian Horrocks/Rephrase
“Lewin is so advanced and we have had to challenge him to perfect his movements and make him better because of how good he is.
“It will be amazing for so many of us to be over there and the support from the gym has been incredible – our togetherness is one of our best qualities.”
Lewin has climbed from 140th in the world 12 months ago to where he sits now, heading to Michigan ranked sixth globally.
Lewin Tubuna at the Evolve gym. Pictures courtesy of Ian Horrocks/Rephrase
He is the best in the UK and third in Europe going into the finals – and there was a point when he feared his chance had gone during qualification from 1400 entries.
He said: “I have had to come through three stages. An open stage, where everyone can enter, the quarter-finals and semi-finals – spread over five days each of video work-outs at Evolve. Top 30 round the world go to Michigan.
“My highest ranking in qualification was in the quarters when I came second in the 50 burpees box jump overs and wall balls.
“I had to do those twice though – and they were better the second time - because with the deadline approaching, I had to go back to the gym at 11pm at night because there was a problem with the date/time on the video!”
CrossFit is a branded fitness regime that consists of various high intensity workouts, and he has excelled as part of Evolve’s Advanced Academy programme.
Having just completed his GCSEs at High Tunstall College of Science, he is due to head to Hartlepool Sixth Form College in September to start a Level 3 in sport and exercise science course. He would love to continue his CrossFit journey and qualify for the elite individual world finals for over-17s in the future.
Calvin George, the new chief operating officer of Hartlepool Sport, the sport arm of The PFC Trust, said: “Lewin is a prime example of what can be achieved by young athletes from this little town of Hartlepool with a 90,000 population. To be putting the area on the CrossFit map through Lewin’s talent is fantastic.
“We are proud to support him by awarding him the bursary. It is paramount that the PFC Trust and Hartlepool Sport can support people along their sporting journey as an enabler for some of these young people’s dreams to come true.
“We are passionate about funding the right people to help them fulfil opportunities they have to showcase themselves, and the town, at an international level.”
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